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How did realization of no-self change your attitude towards others?
For those of you who have realized (experienced?) no-self - how did this realization change the way you engage/interact with other people? How did it change your outlook on life?
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We may be well versed in the concept and fully understand the teaching, but realization is a whole different animal.
you know like the "other", the dreaded other, its not there, so just relax and be yourself don't be afraid to "speak your mind" or behave freely
realization of anatman should incite love and understanding and compassion toow
Good point. Let me restate the question then...
How does your understanding of the concept of no-self change the way you engage/interact with other people? How did it change your outlook on life?
I think there is an important missing step there. Simply understanding no-self is only helpful when we use that understanding to erode self-clinging with mindful practice. It is the erosion of self-clinging that really changes the way we open up and engage with others differently, in my opinion. It lets our view be expansive in the moment, allowing us to be more compassionate and helpful to others.
It changes our outlook on life by making it more direct, in my experience with my own view and listening to others. We can more directly see the causes and conditions that give rise to phenomena, which gives us the opportunity to cut our clinging with even more precision, and quickly cut through layers of ego when helping others.
it was actually just recently that i realized this. and when i say realized, i mean, accepted it. there was a pretty big time difference between my first introduction to this topic and when i actually accepted it and tried to understand it. again, STILL LEARNING... but...
my first thought was, "wow, i'm an a**hole." haha. it made me realize how many of my actions are out of self-motivation. how much i do for myself, how often i put myself and my wishes in front of others, and how little i do for others just because. and... how ultimately ridiculous and delusional it all is.
building on what matt said, i don't feel that i just did a complete 180 and i am now a completely selfless person, but... it feels like it is the first step to a more compassionate being. and to be honest, it was a huge relief.